12/3/07: Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2007)Let’s start our Christmassing with a fine stocking stuffer—also appropriate as a touching Hanukkah gift. (Happy Hanukkah, everybody!)
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story is yet another film co-scripted by Judd Apatow, who’s charmed (some) conservatives this year with both
Knocked Up and
Superbad.
Walk Hard is a goof on modern pop music wrapped in a parody of autobiographical epics such as
Walk the Line and
Ray. John C. Reilly stars as Cox, while his big love interest is played—in further encouraging news—by
Jenna Fischer.
We haven’t seen
Walk Hard, but this album sounds like our kind of film. The music starts with some fine original Cox tunes from his rockabilly days. The competition to blur the color line is nicely captured in “(Mama) You Got To Love Your Negro Man.” The songs then turn to country as Cox’s career becomes ever more Cash-like.
Then we get the Bobby Darin twist, as Cox keeps up with the times by turning into an earnest folkie. He does so with “Dear Mr. President,” presumably taken from Cox’s
I Sing For Those Who Can’t album. The song on the soundtrack is a live recording, with spoken intro:
This next song, I wrote for all the people
in this country that I feel don’t have a voice. Well, maybe the Commander-In-Chief will hear you this time. This one’s for the so-called Commander-In-Chief, wherever you are. Wherever your heart is... Dear Mr. President I want you to know I am deeper than you Listen and learn My heart is a chapel My head is a steeple My arms are the people And the people now yearn I stand for the midget I stand for the Negro I stand for the Injun all hopped up on booze I stand for the Jap And I stand for the beaner I stand, yes, I do, for the Christ-killing Jew And I stand for the dyke And I stand for the retard I stand for the Chinaman washing my socks…It’s all good, as MC Hammer once said. The next song then goes into even more detail about how Cox stands for the midget. From there, we get some psych twists leading to a deathly accurate disco take on David Bowie’s “Starman.”
The album finally ends with two displays of self-love worthy of Sean Penn or Bruce Springsteen. In fact, this is the comedy we would’ve gotten if Penn had ever come through on his dangerous threat to star in a Phil Ochs bio.
Which brings us to a caveat: “Dear Mr. President” is so effective because it’s co-written by a genuine idiot folkie. Dan Bern’s career has been sadly imitative, and he’s stupid enough to mimic the best. He’s got a 9/11 ditty that tries to honor Phil Ochs while ridiculing those yokels who can’t understand that Enron was a much bigger disaster.
If Phil Ochs were still alive, Dan Bern would be on life support. You might want to pick up a used copy of this soundtrack to spare Bern the royalties. On the other hand, maybe a douchebag like Bern deserves to make some money off his natural creepiness.
Make it your own: Walk Hard doesn’t open until December 21st. By then, you would’ve already finished your holiday shopping. Fortunately,
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is
available to buy tomorrow. You can also gear up for Coxmania by visiting the official Dewey Cox fan site via
RockLikeCox.com.
